Rotary plow and pulverizer



(No Model.) I Y 2 Sheets-Sheet .1.

G. JOHNSTON.

ROTARY PLOW AND PULVBRIZBR.

No. 269,792. Patented Deo.26, 1882.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 O. JOHNSTON.

ROTARY PLOW AND PULVERIZBR.

No. 269,792. Patented Dec. 26, 1882.

A291!- e s t llivrrnn STATES PATENT Orricn.

COLUMBUS JOHNSTON, OF OLARKSVILLE, ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALF TO SYL-- VESTER T. JOHNSTON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

ROTARY PLOW'AN'D PU LVERIZER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 269,792, dated December 26, 1882.

Application filed April 21, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GoLUMBUs JOHNSTON, of Olarksville, Pike county, Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Rotary Plow and Pulverizer, of which the following is a specification,- reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of the same.

My improvements consist, first, in the manner described of supporting and adjusting the plow-shafts; second, in the construction and arrangement ofthe blades upon the rotary wheel.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section at22, Fig. 1, showing parts in elevation beyond the section-plane, and the position of other parts by broken lines. 7 Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the machine. Fig. 4. is a detail top view of two rotary plows. Fig. 5 is a detail vertical section through the front bearings of a plow-shaft. Fig. 6 is an enlarged front view of part ofa cutter-wheel with cutters or blades, the surface of the ground being shown by a broken line. Fig. 7 is an enlarged front edge 95 view of one of the cutters or blades, with a part of the cutter-wheel in section; and Fig. 8 is a rear edge view of the same.

My improvement is shown and described with two rotary plows and pulverizers; but

0 the machine may have but one of these plows;

or it may have two or more, according to circumstances. I

A is a frame or body, of any suitable construction, mounted upon drive-wheels B and caster-wheel O. The arrangement is such that when the blades of the rotary plows are raised from the ground theframe can be turned around freely. The drive-wheels B are made to take a firm hold of the ground by transverse ribs 1),

0 or by studs projecting from their peripheries.

The wheels B are fast upon the axle D, so as to cause the axle to turn as the machine is drawn forward.

E is the tongue.

F is a spur-wheel fast upon the axle D. The wheel F engages a pinion, G, upon the countershaft H. The counter-shaft H carries two bevel-wheels, I, each engaginga bevel-pinion, J, upon theplow-shafts K. The front journal, 7c, of the plow-shaft turns in a bearing, L, whose box is made flaring at both sides, as shownin Fig. 5, so as to allow the vertical oscillation of the rear end of the shaft. The bearings or hangers L resist the end strain upon the shaft K. They are connected to the frame by stay- 5 rods L. The shafts turn in guide hearings or hangers M at the rear ends, said hangers havingalengthenedopening,m, through which the shafts pass. The construction allows the ascent of the shafts when the blades come in contact with any object that they cannot out through. The hangers depend from the bar N. The ends of the bar N extend nearly to the upright sides 0 ot'the machine, the construction being such as to prevent the lateral 6 movement of the plows. The bar N hangs upon chains P, that are secured to grooved pulleys Q, said pulleys being upon a shaft, It.

S is a hand-lever connected to the shaft R to turn the pulleys Q and wind the chains P upon them, or to unwind them to raise or'lower the bar N and with it the rear ends of the plowshafts. The lever S works beside a ratchet bar or stud-bar, T, whose teeth or studs t hold the lever forward, and by this means the hangers are held at any elevation to limit the descent of the plows or sustain them above the surface of the ground when turning the machine or movingit from field to field.

The pinion G upon the counter-shaft H may be made to work endwise on afeather-key upon said shaft, so that it may be moved out of engagement with the cog-wheel F when it is not desired to have the plows revolve. This clutching device is so well known that no fur- 8 ther description is needed.

The wheels of the plows areshown at U, said wheels being fast upon the shafts K. -At V are shown curved blades made of steel. The position of the blades upon the wheel and their 0 shape are such that of the part entering the earth that end which is nearest to the wheel enters first, while the point of the bladeis the last to enter the ground and the last to leave it. It will be seen thatthis bai-kward inclination of the blades will render it impossible for any weeds or other trash to collect upon them, as they would be drawn through any such mat ter with which they might come in contact.- The blades have a rearward curve to such a degree that as the machine moves forward they throw the earth backward and mix and pulverize it. The number of blades and speed of rotation of the plows relative to the forward motion of the machine are such that the cuts made by the blades will be at very shortinter- \als. Thus the earth will be scarified andpulverized and mixed as it is first sliced, and then thrown violently backward by the curved ends of the blades.

is'the cutting-edge, and o the back edge, of the blade. (See Figs. 7 and 8.) The back is curved to a greater degree than the front edge, so that the rear sides of the blades, and more especially that part in near proximity to the back corner, 73 will throw bacl: the earth. The part of the wheel to which the cutters or blades are attached is shown beveled, so that the front sides of thecutters may be flush with the front face of the wheel, and the cutters are inclined back wardly, so that they cut the earth in planes inclined to the surface, the planes of cut inclining backward downwardly. Thus the knives will act to raise the earth somewhat as well as nioveitbackward, and asmaller amount of force will be required to move them through the earth than if they were vertical and tended to move the earth in a directly horizontal direction. The shape of the blades and their position 011 the wheel are such that they do not drag in the earth, but rather tend by the pressure of their rear sides upon the earth to press the machine forward. This pressure also tends to hold them in the ground.

It is intended that the weight of the wheel U and shaft K shall be such as to press down the blades into the earth with the required force; but the weight would not be so great as to prevent the plows from rising when the blades come in contact with any object that they are incapable of cuttin I claim as my inventionl. The coinbinatioti of shaft K, wheel U, blades V, bar N, hanger M, having slot m, upright guide sides 0 U, shat't K, grooved pulleys Q Q, chains P P, lever S, and studbar 1 t, as set forth.

2. In a rotary plow, the blades curved backwardly toward the wheel to adapt the hotly of each blade to enter the ground before the point, as and for the purpose set forth.

3,-A rotary cutter and scatterer consisting ofa wheel provided with radially-curved blades, substantially as shown and described, twisted slightly rea-rwardly at their upper sides and ends, the bodies of the blades adapted to cut and slice the surface, and the ends to follow and throw back and scatter the sliced surface, as set forth.

COLUMBUS JOHNSTON.

In presence of' L. M. SMITH, JACOB MIDDLETON. 

